Ras Kwame is a British musician,

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

, radio DJ and presenter of

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian heritage."'We Are The Black Stars!'"
'' The Voice'', 6 March 2013.

Biography

Ras Kwame was born in Hammersmith, London, and at the age of 11 moved to Ghana.Amy Raphael
"Three into one will go"
''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', 30 January 2005. He returned to London after doing his A-levels, and studied economics at City of London Polytechnic. He started in the music industry as a club DJ playing

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, R&B and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

in the early 1990s. He then moved on to promoting for Kiss100's groundbreaking Starlight Club night and the Mean Fiddler’s Subterranea Club, bringing over talent from the US and promoting local talent. The Subterranea gigs saw Kwame take control of the turntables for artists such as Gang Starr,

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

Wu Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, Ol' Dir ...

, London Posse and the Fugees. During that time, Ras also undertook remix work for Chanté Moore,

George McCrae George Warren McCrae Jr. (born October 19, 1944) is an American soul and disco singer who is most famous for his 1974 hit " Rock Your Baby". Biography and career McCrae was the second of nine children, born in West Palm Beach, Florida. He ...

and The 49ers. Kwame founded West London's Sugar Shack record shop in 1993 and from 1994 to 2000 he had formed Baby Shack Recordings and his

UK garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house and jungle production methods, but also incorporates elements from ...

production outfit M-Dubs. As a garage producer, Kwame made several innovative underground club anthems for the flourishing UKG scene, such as "Over Here" featuring Ritchie Dan, "Bump and Grind" featuring

Lady Saw Marion Hall, formerly known by the stage name Lady Saw, is a Jamaican singer and songwriter whose career has spanned over two decades. Formerly known as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Dancehall, she is known for her guest ap ...

and the underground smash "Body Killin" by The Vincent Alvis Project. In 2001, Kwame launched the International Rude Bwoy Recordings operation; the label maintains a UK black music output with a variety of styles ranging from hip hop to garage. Ras Kwame joined

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts Black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been ...

at launch in 2002 with the ''100% Homegrown'' show every Sunday evening. The show was dedicated to the sound of UK black music and provided a live platform for talent and gave major support to new acts like Lethal B, Skinnyman and Estelle. In 2004, Kwame won Best Radio DJ at the

Urban Music Awards The Urban Music Awards (UMA) are a hip-hop, R&B, dance, and soul music awards ceremony that was launched in the UK by Jordan Kensington in 2003 and is now held in multiple countries. The US version of the award ceremony, the Urban Music Awar ...

and started a new music show called ''Showtime with Ras Kwame'' on Channel U. In February 2005, Kwame was brought into

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

to host one of the three OneMusic shows every Sunday morning from 5am to 7am that succeeded the

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

slot. The other OneMusic hosts were Rob da Bank and Huw Stephens. It was later announced that Kwame was leaving Radio 1 and 1Xtra as part of schedule changes in January 2011. In January 2013, he joined

Capital Xtra Capital XTRA (formerly Choice FM) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Global. It broadcasts on 96.9 and 107.1 FM in Greater London, and nationally on DAB, Global Player and television platforms. It specialises in hip ho ...

and presented ''The Midnight Mix'' Tuesdays to Fridays from midnight to 3am. However, in October 2016, as part of the station's schedule change, he now only appears on Mondays, with ''Reggae Recipe'' from midnight to 2am. He regularly judges both Open Mic UK and Live and Unsigned.

References

External links

*
Ras Kwame on Capital XTRA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwame, Ras Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British radio DJs English people of Ghanaian descent English record producers Black British radio presenters Black British musicians Place of birth missing (living people) BBC Radio 1Xtra presenters UK garage musicians